Sunday, February 23, 2020

WALTZING MATILDA WITH BILLY BLUEGUM IN WAR TO END ALL WARS

Front of handmade postcard made On Active Service  out of cardboard, dated 22/5/16 , addressed in faded pencil  to Mr Jack Forsyth , Wharf Manager , Outer Harbour ( Port Adelaide), South Australia . Listed on the back  are names of Troop Mates  with  rank, number  and   their home-town , most  from  South Australia ,  some  from   Victoria  and  two  from  Liverpool, England. It would be interesting  to  know  what  happened to  all  these men .
 
It is  from the estate of  Arthur F. Forsyth , Matilda Street , Peterhead , Port Adelaide , who served in the  Light  Horse  Brigade ,  survived the war, and  was  employed  on   the   Port  Adelaide  waterfront . 

Another  interesting item  is  the    1917  postcard with the  studio real   photo (below )  taken in Cairo, Egypt ,  of  a  young Light Horseman , W.Woodrof ,  nicknamed Billy Bluegum    after the Norman Lindsay koala bear .  He is  wearing  a  belt with  a  Turkish  soldier's  buckle , presumably a souvenir  or   a  studio   prop.The postcard was  sent by Forsyth , with individual  kisses to his wife and  children in  Matilda  Street , with  a  request  to  respond  with  a  long  letter . More items of  interest will  be  run  from  the  Forsyth Collection .